>> she had her whole life ahead of her. you know, she had a good job. she had her house. her little dog. she loved her dog. her life was just beginning. no one deserves this. >> reporter: posters, searches, heartache. >> she had a heart of gold. she was there for everybody! >> reporter: her name was carrie. and one monday morning, she went missing. >> i was consumed. >> it was in the news. it was on facebook. >> i even contacted "dateline", so her story was getting out. >> reporter: the story would be stranger than anyone knew, leading detectives to this tattoo and a karaoke clue! >> to get up there and sing that song? it was sickening. >> reporter: could a song help solve this case? "without a trace." >> reporter: but first, another "dateline" mystery. >> i literally got down on my

knees, lester, and i prayed to god i said, "you know, i don't wanna live." >> reporter: it was a crime that engulfed a city. a young tourist, murdered. >> he was stabbed trying to protect his mother. >> you had to get every one of them. >> reporter: seven teens, convicted. one says he's innocent. >> you don't have to believe me. look at the facts in this case. >> reporter: now we're doing just that. tracking down witnesses -- >> he was shaking. >> he started crying. >> he started crying. >> he started crying. >> he started crying. >> reporter: -- evidence. >> the most emotional day was >> reporter: is he telling the truth? or lying to win his freedom? >> you made it up, didn't you? >> reporter: we're about to find >> this is a perry mason moment! >> right. she's a surprise to everyone. this is "dateline." point. >> reporter: in this city, and in this story that transformed it, where does the truth live? does it live in what was said in this police station?

>> all i saw him was taking the knife out. >> reporter: or what was seen on this subway platform? >> clearly she sees one person that she recognizes. >> reporter: does it live in what was argued in this courtroom? >> you made that up, didn't you? >> no. >> reporter: or is the truth locked up in this prison? >> this is my cry for justice. >> reporter: tonight, you'll hear a judge decide where the truth will prevail. times square -- bustling with tourists -- vibrant and safe, except it wasn't always like this. twenty-five years ago, new york was in turmoil. crime was out of control. and then came the moment new yorkers said enough is enough.

manhattan subway platform, just a few blocks from standing. it's a murder that would have consequences for this city, and quarter century. it was labor day weekend, 1990. a sunday. the u.s. open tennis tournament was in full swing and of tourists had come to new york to see it. among them, brian watkins, a college student and tennis

player from utah. he was there along with his family. >> they were avid tennis fans. that's why they were here. >> reporter: journalism professor and writer, bill hughes, has followed the story for >> the tennis games were delayed that day, so they -- they were out a bit later than they expected. >> reporter: as the watkins family headed out to dinner about 9:30 p.m., hughes says they made a fateful decision. >> they coulda took a cab, but they got on the subway. >> and that's where everything changed? >> that's where everything went south. >> reporter: as brian and his family headed into the 7th avenue subway station, a train pulled in, unloading dozens of teenagers -- all headed to a nearby dance club. >> it's mayhem, you know. there's kids all over, but they exit the subway station. a small group of six to eight congregates near the top of the subway station on the sidewalk. >> this particular

group doesn't have the money for the cover charge. >> right. one of the guys said, "we're gonna grab a wallet." >> reporter: the group of teenagers went back downstairs, where brian and his family were waiting on the platform for their train. >> they spot the watkins family standing right about here, and then bam, they come out screaming and hollering. mr. watkins is grabbed and knocked to the ground and punched. he's slashed with a box cutter. his wallet is torn out of his pocket. mrs. watkins is grabbed from behind, hunched over and someone kicks her in the face. somebody yells, "we got it, let's go." >> reporter: as the group took off, brian watkins ran after them. one of the attackers, gary morales, had a knife. >> he realizes brian is right behind him. >> right, if you're brian, i'm morales, he goes like this. >> swings. >> and then runs up the stairs.

>> reporter: brian was stabbed and soon collapsed. >> can you send an ambulance to 7th ave? >> reporter: within minutes, the 911 calls started coming in. brian's mother ran to a payphone frantically pleading for help. >> reporter: brian watkins died on the way to the hospital. he was just 22 years >> they were the targets of young killers. >> reporter: a tourist was stabbed to death -- >> brian waktins was stabbed. >> how would you describe the media reaction to this murder? >> almost inducing a wave of panic. >> it is the terror of life in new york city. no one is safe from random violence. >> reporter: new york in 1990 was a city under siege. the worst year of crime in the city's history. >> reporter: twenty five years ago, the man responsible for policing the transit system was bill bratton. >> it was a terrifying time. there was no denying that crime was out of control.

>> reporter: bratton is widely recognized as one of the nation's top cops. he's run the police departments of america's two largest cities. today, he's on his second tour as new york city's police commissioner. >> but just to put it in perspective, the murders of 1990, compare that to other years. >> there is no comparison 1990 -- 2,243. last year -- 333. >> i'm damn angry. of course i am. >> reporter: beginning with then mayor david dinkins. >> actually the headline around that time "dave, do something," meaning dave do something about the horrific crime rate. and the brian watkins stabbing was an accelerant that was added to that whole fear. >> minute you got that call, did you know immediately this was going to be a big one, there's going to be a lot of press on this? >> sure. and also the idea of the nature of the

attack, the wolfpack. >> reporter: wolfpack. it was the name the media had recently given to another group of teenagers who -- just the year before -- were arrested for brutally attacking a jogger in central park. bratton says law enforcement had a strategy in dealing with these so-called wolfpacks. >> reporter: and that's exactly what police were doing in the watkins case. within 24 hours, they had a group of teenagers in custody. but bratton says the impact of brian watkins's murder on new york didn't end with those arrests. >> well, it was a seminal case for me it. >> reporter: the day after the murder, bratton received a call from the governor's office, offering $40 million to help fight crime. of the seven men sent away for this crime, one says he alone is unjustly paying the price for the murder that commissioner bratton says changed new york city. >> i had no involvement in this crime, so it's very, very important to me

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a quarter century since the murder of brian watkins. and since then, this man, johnny hincapie, has been locked up, one of the seven men convicted of the crime. but he insists he's innocent. >> i had no involvement in this crime, lester. i'm the only one that's claiming innocence. >> reporter: so what is johnny hincapie's story? to find out, i went to speak with him at new york's fishkill correctional facility. hincapie took me back to the night of the crime. he had recently turned 18 and was on his way to a can't-miss event, a party at the roseland ballroom in manhattan. >> there was a very popular d.j. who was throwin' a birthday party for himself, and everybody just wanted to be there. >> reporter: he explained that he and as many as 50 other teenagers took a

and how when the train arrived he went upstairs to the street, where he lost sight of a friend who was holding his money. he says he couldn't carry his cash because of the tight designer jeans he was wearing. >> they had numerous pockets on them but you couldn't really put your hands in them. >> reporter: so he said he went back down into the station to look for his friend. >> as i'm goin' down, i start hearing some screaming. and when i got to the bottom, i see a crowd of people running toward me. >> reporter: did you have any idea what was happening on the platform? >> no. >> reporter: he said that's when he turned around and ran back upstairs to the street where he saw his friend. >> he asked me what was going on. and i told him, "i have no idea but something seems to be happening over there. let's just go to roseland." >> reporter: he says he danced until the wee hours, got a ride home, and slept in. the next day, hincapie -- and the rest of new york city -- awoke to a huge story.

still being conducted inside the stationhouse as they have been through most of the day. time i found out that happened. >> reporter: he claims he didn't think much of it until later that night, 24 hours after the murder, when detectives knocked on the hincapie's door. >> and they say, "we need to see your son because we would like to ask him a question." >> reporter: hincapie's mother maria says she asked the detectives if her son needed a lawyer. >> they say, "how old is he?" and i say, "he just turned 18." so they told me, "he doesn't need a lawyer." the police told me, "he doesn't need a lawyer." >> reporter: hincapie's father carlos says he was shocked. he says johnny was a great kid -- literally an altar boy. >> reporter: had he ever been in trouble with the law before? >> never, never, never. >> reporter: traffic ticket? >> never. >> reporter: nothing? >> never. >> reporter: that was

police brought the hincapies' son to the precinct. what johnny didn't know was that detectives had spent the past 24 hours working the case, and already had six suspects in custody who confessed. >> 17-year-old gary morales admitted he was the one who stabbed brian watt kins in the chest. one gave him hincapie's name and two others agreed. but another suspect said no, he was not there. >> they all need eded mon sni. >> no. johnny and kevin left. >> still, detectives wanted to find out for themselves. >> they placed me inside of a room. there was a detective, who was laying down in one of the bottom bunk beds smoking a cigarette. >> hincapie says he

exactly what he did that night, but the detective didn't believe a word of it. >> he called me a liar. and he said that he had all my friends in another room. he knew what happened. >> reporter: and then what happens? >> he's blowin' smoke into my face from the cigarette that he's smoking. he slapped me in my face. he pulled my hair. and he kicked me right down to the floor. >> reporter: what is he saying to you? and -- and what are you saying back? i mean, you tell me you didn't do this crime. so i'm assuming that in your denial. >> i'm telling him, "listen, i'm innocent. i just told you that i just saw it on the news for the very first time." >> reporter: hincapie says that's when the detective offered him a way out. >> he just said, "listen, if you really, really wanna go home, all you gotta do is just memorize a story that i want you to say. i'll have you driven home immediately. >> reporter: you believed him? >> yes, i did. >> reporter: hincapie says the detective led him to believe he was a witness, not a suspect.

>> so in my mind i'm thinkin' that if i'm a witness and i have to say that, yeah, i knew somebody had a knife and this is what i have to say to go home, then i'm gonna do that. >> reporter: and that's what he did. hincapie sat in front of a video camera, and told a story that he says was scripted for him to an assistant district attorney. >> so it was a plan that all of you made to get some money to go to roseland? >> yes. >> and were you part of that plan? >> yes, i was. >> i said, "okay, that's it. it's over with. it's done with. i'm outta here." >> reporter: hincapie didn't know, but he had just written his arrest warrant. his confession was all police needed -- a confession he gave to them three hours after he was picked up. >> reporter: it's not like you were in that interrogation room for hours and hours and hours. >> well, to me it was a long time. i was scared. >> reporter: under the law, hincapie and the six others were equally responsible, even though only one actually stabbed brian watkins. hincapie never went home again.

and so for the past quarter century, his mother maria has made the same two-hour journey every other week since her son was sent away. >> it's been very hard because it's been 24 years, 24 birthdays, 24 christmases. >> reporter: when she arrives, the ritual is always the same. same room. same tables. same long wait. finally, he appears. >> how's everything, >> very nice. >> reporter: they say their visits are heartbreaking for both of them. >> how? hold on so all these years? it's been too many years. >> don't cry mommy, don't cry. >> reporter: but maria says she's been crying out, pleading for anyone to listen from that very first day her ordeal began. >> i wanted to scream to the world, and tell the world my son is

not guilty. please, help me. >> reporter: little did she know, help was on the way. >> i love you, okay?3 f2 te amo. but will he talk? >> he was shaking. he was visibly nervous. >> he started crying. >> when "dateline" continues. well mcdonald's has thrown away those rules and opened a new world of possibilities. now, you're free to start enjoying the breakfast you love any time you wish. no way. yes way. introducing mcdonald's new all day breakfast menu. once, you changed how you ate breakfast. it's time to start changing when. don't miss kohl's 3 day sale. buy more save more! take an extra 15% off. spend $100 or more and take an extra 20% off!

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>> i've been up and down throughout this whole incarceration. >> reporter: johnny hincapie is serving his 24th year behind bars for the 1990 murder of a young tourist on a subway platform in manhattan. his own words sealed his fate. >> so you could see that it was a knife? >> yeah. >> reporter: anybody looking at it, it sounds like you're agreeing with it. that this is the story. >> but it wasn't. >> reporter: but a jury convicted him and over the years, hincapie couldn't get a court to hear his case again. >> when all my appeals were finished, i literally got down on my knees, lester, and i told god, "i don't wanna be here anymore. i don't wanna live." >> reporter: and then one day 16 years into his prison sentence a reporter heard about hincapie's claim of innocence. >> i covered crime. i got a lot of letters

from prison inmates sayin' they were innocent. i never believed any of them. >> reporter: it was bill hughes. >> met with johnny, listened to him for a couple hours. and i didn't believe him. i saw his confession and i thought he was guilty. but i read the transcripts. i started to look into it. >> reporter: one of the first things he did was reach out to the other men convicted of this crime who were all still in prison. >> i interviewed gary morales, who actually stabbed brian watkins. i interviewed emiliano fernandez, who slashed mr. watkins. and both admitted they were involved and both said johnny was not. >> reporter: hughes also watched the original interrogation videos and for the first time, he saw how that other suspect told cops that hincapie and another teen were not at the crime scene. >> and they all needed money? >> no, johnny and kevin left. >> reporter: hughes was intrigued especially when he

heard the suspect say a second time that hincapie was not involved. >> so there were eight people surrounding? >> no, there were six. >> there were six? >> yeah, because the two of them left. >> a tape hincapie's jury never saw. >> the more i investigated it, the more i came to believe that he might be tellin' me the truth. >> there is not a shred of forensic or physical evidence. >> but he confessed. not after 15 days of interrogation, but after several hours. >> yeah, like most people you can't possibly fathom admitting you did something you did not do. >> reporter: nobody does that. >> nobody would think they are capable of doing it, but the truth is a skilled interrogator could probably get you or i to admit we kidnapped the lindburgh baby. >> reporter: in the summer of 2010, hughes wrote an article about hincapie's story for a magazine called city limits. >> i published an article on the 20th anniversary of the murder and nobody

really cared. >> reporter: and the years continued to pass. >> lester, we've been for 24 years. all our family. >> reporter: alex is johnny's younger he was 15 when johnny was arrested. >> i pray for my day. >> reporter: like his parents, he never believed his brother was guilty. >> it was just a shock to all of us. just watchin' my parents, what they went through it was heartbreaking, especially my dad, goin' into my brother's room, kissing the pillow at night. that's been in my memory for many years. >> reporter: johnny? so this is home? >> no, i wouldn't call it home. my home is with my family on the outside. >> reporter: how old are you, johnny? >> i'm 42. >> reporter: you've spent more than half

of your life behind bars? >> yes. it's terrible. being separated from your family. that's probably the worst thing. >> reporter: throughout his incarceration, hincapie has been a model prisoner. he's been involved with an inmate theater program. >> i don't know, i've been tired lately. >> reporter: and he took college courses offered at the prison, which is where he met a man by the name of bob dennison. >> he said, "i don't know if you know anything about my case." and once he started, i said, "of course i do. everybody knows about the case." >> reporter: dennison is the former chairman of new york state's parole board. >> he showed me the article that bill hughes had written about him. >> reporter: did he tell you he was innocent? >> he did. he told me he was innocent. >> reporter: and you rolled your eyes, thinkin' -- >> no, i -- >> reporter: yeah? >> yeah, i did. but somethin' about johnny stuck with me. so dennison decided to reach out to hughes.

and all of a sudden, hincapie had a former parole commissioner and a reporter teaming up to re-investigate his case. >> we laughingly referred to ourselves at the white irish guy gumshoe squad. we were pounding around queens looking for potential witnesses. >> reporter: after nearly a year of searching, they found one. a man who said he knew the truth about johnny hincapie. >> we sat down in his kitchen, and he was shaking. he was visibly nervous. >> we sat at his table and he started crying. >> and he took out a napkin, and he drew a map of the subway station and he remembered as if it was clear as a recent event. >> reporter: they knew what this witness told them, if true, was a bombshell. but neither dennison nor hughes is a lawyer so they got in touch with one new york city's well known civil rights attorney ron kuby. >> they said look, we know there's no money to pay you. but he's an innocent guy, would you take the case? so i said yes. >> reporter: kuby's first task was to talk with that witness. his name is luis montero.

>> luis montero offered proof that johnny did not commit the crime. >> reporter: would the court agree? luis montero is about story. >> i heard screaming. >> did you see him go on to the platform? >> reporter: also ahead -- >> it was a mystery and we need to figure this out, fast. >> reporter: she's a detective with distinction. >> here you are with your pink handcuffs. >> reporter: pink handcuffs and a white hot passion for justice. would she use them to cuff a killer?

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>> reporter: the mystery of what happened on this subway platform so long ago took a new twist with a new witness named luis montero. >> this is a three level subway station. >> reporter: montero had been in the subway station during the crime and told attorney ron kuby a story that backed up johnny hincapie's account of the night brian watkins was stabbed. >> montero establishes not only did johnny not participate in the attack, he could not have participated in the attack. >> reporter: and that's established by what luis saw from where we're standing. >> that's right. >> reporter: based on montero's story, kuby filed a motion for a

new hearing, and 24 years after he went away, hincapie got his wish -- a manhattan supreme court judge agreed to reopen his case. >> people of the state of new york vs. johnny hincapie. >> reporter: in february of 2015 the hearing was called to order. for this proceeding, the burden was on hincapie's attorneys, ron kuby and his co-counsel leah busby to convince judge eduardo padro that hincapie's conviction should be vacated. >> reporter: leah, who's your first witness? what is it you? you need to prove? >> luis montero was the first witness, and he was there to prove that he saw johnny at the time the crime took place, and johnny wasn't there. >> how long had you known mr. hincapie? >> maybe a year, give or take. >> reporter: montero testified he was also

to the dance club. >> what was your relationship with mr. hincapie like? >> we knew each other but we didn't know each other that good. >> reporter: in fact they haven't seen each other or spoken since then. to understand montero's story it's important to understand how the subway station is laid out. the platform level is where the trains come in -- and where the crime took place. one long flight up from the platform is what's called the turnstile level and then a final set of stairs get you to the street. montero says that hincapie was not on the platform when the crime happened, but one flight up on that turnstile level with him. >> what did you say to each other? >> he asked me for this other guy that came in, if i seen him. >> reporter: montero

testified about specific details that matched hincapie's version of events. >> he was looking for the other guy because he supposedly had some money for him. >> reporter: another detail that matched hincapie's story, montero said hincapie began going down this up escalator which kuby says wasn't working at the time seconds later, montero says, something caught his attention. >> all of a sudden i hear commotion, screaming. >> reporter: montero said that's when he saw hincapie turn around and run back up. if true, it means hincapie could not have been near the crime scene. >> did you see him go onto the platform? >> no. >> reporter: so why hadn't montero come forward before now? kuby says montero was terrified because as it turned out he had been wrongfully accused of this very crime. >> he was held in jail for 18 months awaiting trial on this crime. he was identified by a member of the watkins family and then they realized that watkins was not sure and

18 months later, they say to luis montero, "gosh, wrong guy, sorry about that" and they turned him loose. >> reporter: but to kuby perhaps the most compelling part of montero's testimony is how he says detectives tried to coerce a false confession from him. the very same thing hincapie says happened to him. >> they just started to hit me, around the kidneys and slapped me every time i said something they didn't want to hear. they just hit me. that's when the nightmares started. >> reporter: but montero never cracked and maintained his innocence kuby argued to the judge that what montero and hincapie say happened to them was easy to believe. that they were just two of many innocent people swept up by police at a time in new york history when crime was out of control simply in the wrong place, in the wrong era. >> we've done some terrible, terrible things to innocent people in the course of fighting crime. >> reporter: case in point, kuby argued the central park jogger case.

that other so-called wolfpack. just like hincapie, those five teens had also confessed on tape but they were exonerated in 2002 after dna cleared them. >> defense now calls johnny hincapie. >> reporter: now, the time had come for hincapie to tell his story, under oath, on the witness stand, something hincapie says his original trial attorney advised him not to do. >> i wanted to take the stand. he told me that the district attorney's office would basically just walk all over me because i had confessed. >> reporter: he testified about how he left the station and went back down to look for his friend who was holding his money. >> i gave him my wallet complete with all my money. >> reporter: and for the first time in a courtroom he accused police of coercing a false confession from him. >> he slapped my face. he grabbed me by my hair. >> reporter: hincapie said he even had proof that he tried to recant his confession almost immediately.

jailhouse letters, including one letter dated two days after his arrest telling the same story he tells today. "please believe me, please help me. please talk to the judge and tell him that i am telling the truth, that the detective told me to say everything." >> is there anything else that you'd like to add? >> i was just 18 years old when this happened and i never had a chance. i never had an opportunity, your honor, from the moment that i was arrested. not one chance. >> reporter: as the prosecution got ready to present its case hincapie's mother, maria, leaned on her faith, as she has from the beginning. >> you know, we been separated for 24 years. i pray to god that johnny will be exonerated, and we will be finally together. >> reporter: coming up, a witness contradicts a key

element to johnny's story. >> how do you respond to that? >> reporter: then a last-minute twist could up-end the whole case. >> she's a surprise to me. she's a surprise to everyone. >> reporter: when "dateline" continues. i know. it's so frustrating. they'd be a lot happier with the capital one venture card. and you would, too! why? it's so easy with venture. you earn unlimited double miles on every purchase, every day. just book any flight you want then use your miles to cover the cost. now, that's more like it. what's in your wallet? lowe's presents "how to save energy" wow. insulating the house made our heating bill really small. how small? tiny. now get 20% off all in-stock batt and roll insulation. does your makeup remover take it all off? every kiss-proof, cry-proof, stay-proof look?

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>> reporter: manhattan assistant district attorneys eugene hurley and

ben rosenberg didn't work hincapie's original trial. but they say hincapie is a liar and that justice was served 25 years ago. to make their point, prosecutors cross-examined hincapie's witnesses, starting with luis montero. >> good morning, mr. montero. >> good morning. >> reporter: assistant da ben rosenberg pointed out that over the years, details in montero's story have changed. >> that is what you swore to here, correct? >> yes, it's right there. >> so is your testimony here today is inaccurate? >> reporter: and that in all these years montero never once mentioned seeing hincapie at all that night and that montero's wrongful arrest gave him a motive to lie. >> your experience in this case dating back 20 plus years, you are angry about it, aren't you? >> i am not angry about it, i am just

scared. >> you are still scared? >> yes, you kept me innocent for 18 months, you think i am not going to be scared of you guys? i am petrified of you guys. you know, i can't even look at you guys. >> and you're angry, arent you? >> no, i'm not angry. i'm scared of you. >> reporter: prosecutors had their own witnesses to discredit hincapie's story who did not want us to record their testimony remember that friend who hincapie said was holding his money that night? >> i gave him my wallet complete with >> reporter: that friend's name is anthony nichols and he testified that hincapie never gave him any money to hold. looking for anthony nichols is supposedly the whole predicate for the defendant going back into the subway station or going down to the platfrom. but mr. nichols says, didn't happen. i asked ron kuby about that. that friend tells the prosecution that johnny's lying. money.

that? >> right, well that friend also told ms. busby admitted on the stand he told miss busby that he just didn't remember. >> reporter: hurley argued to the court that hincapie was lying about something else. he says the escalator that hincapie says he ran down was working just fine and it was moving up, not down. >> he made the ridiculous claim, "he went down the up escalator." >> reporter: but perhaps the most dramatic part of the hearing was prosecutor hurley's cross-examination of johnny hincapie himself. hurley argued that hincapie was making up the whole story about falsely confessing. >> and it is the first ever alleged to a court that your confession was coerced by detective casey physically abusing you and making you memorize a story. is that correct? >> correct. the detective wasn't called to testify, but we tracked him down. and he denied ever abusing hincapie. >> reporter: hurley moved on to that letter. >> please believe me. >> reporter: the one

hincapie says he wrote to a lawyer two days after his arrest. hurley argued it wasn't really written back then. >> the date is on the letter. >> the date 1990 could have been put in 2011, right? >> no. >> reporter: and that it was conveniently addressed it to an attorney who is now dead. >> in fact you waited for him to pass away to forge that letter >> not at all, sir. >> reporter: prosecutor hurley also ridiculed his story about being coerced into confessing by an abusive detective. >> he was wearing a t-shirt, smoking cigarettes, right? >> yes. >> like some evil movie cop? >> yes. >> you made that up, didn't you? >> no. >> reporter: hurley argued that hincapie knew details about the crime not because he was coerced, but because he was there. >> they said, "lets get paid." >> you heard him say, "lets get paid?" >> yeah. >> you know they said that because you were there and it was true,

>> it was not true, mr. hurley. >> you were there, and knew it was true, right? >> no it was not. >> reporter: the prosecutions case was over. hincapie's fate was now in the hands of the judge and that's when ron kuby got a phone call. >> a new witness came forward who had never spoken to anybody before. >> this is your surprise witness? >> total surprise. >> reporter: this is your perry mason moment. >> she's a surprise to me. she's a surprise to everyone. >> reporter: after a quarter century,

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and ask if once-daily movantik is right for you. if you can't afford your medication, astrazeneca may be able to help. >> reporter: witness testimony had just ended in johnny hincapie's hearing when his

attorney ron kuby notified the judge of an unexpected development. >> amazingly enough, during the course of the hearing itself, a new witness came forward, a young woman named mariluz santana. >> reporter: santana told kuby she had recently read an article about hincapie's court hearing. >> and she realizes, "oh, my god. he's still in prison. i can't believe it." >> reporter: santana said she knew hincapie from her neighborhood and was on the subway that night, headed to the dance club, and saw the robbery unfold. >> so she's standing here. she sees them surrounding the watkins family. and at that point, she starts to flee. >> reporter: as she ran past the attackers, she said she saw them all, and is certain hincapie

was not one of them. >> reporter: she said when she heard the arrest back then, she even told her mother he was innocent, but santana says she was forward. mariluz remained silent? >> silent. completely silent, except for telling her mother. so she doesn't get involved, but she's figured, "well, you know what. johnny wasn't there. the police will sort this out." and she sort of forgets about it. >> reporter: but now, 25 years later, santana took the stand, but didn't want us to record her testimony. prosecutors attacked her credibility, pointing out santana was convicted of a drug charge back in the 1990s. and they argued just because she didn't see johnny, doesn't mean he wasn't there. >> reporter: is it not possible she just missed seeing johnny in the confusion on the platform, that he was there, and she just didn't notice it? >> absolutely

impossible. she saw all of the attackers. she knew what johnny looked like, and johnny was not among them. >> reporter: it would now be up to judge eduardo padro to decide a case that brought up critical questions about police conduct in a different era. i asked nypd's current commissioner bill bratton about that as everyone awaited the judge's decision. >> reporter: given the climate in the city, the climate of fear and political pressure, was there pressure on detectives to just cast a wide net in the -- in these high-profile crimes? >> i don't think so. in the sense is there pressure? certainly. but as to the idea to -- go over the threshold, you can't break the law to enforce it. >> reporter: so does he think the police crossed that threshold with johnny hincapie? >> reporter: if the court exonerates him, would you have

different views on the watkins case? >> i don't have enough intimacy as to his particular case. i have no reason to not be supportive of the police investigation. >> reporter: two weeks ago, the day came for judge padro to announce his decision. hincapie's family and friends, along with the media, filed into manhattan supreme court to learn his fate. in a packed courtroom, hincapie was clearly anxious as the judge began to read the decision. >> under the newly discovered evidence, the court does find the defense has born the burden of proof. the court is going to set aside the convictions. >> reporter: the judge threw out hincapie's conviction. in the decision, the judge said hincapie failed to prove that he was actually innocent, but the judge did find hincapie's witnesses persuasive enough to grant him a new trial. but that didn't mean he'd walk free just yet. prosecutor eugene hurley asked the judge to send hincapie back to prison while the d.a.'s office considered its options for appeal, and

whether it will retry him. >> we ask that the defendant be remanded. >> reporter: ron kuby was steaming. >> let's not ignore that mr. hincapie has been incarcerated for 25 years, 1 month, and as of today, 3 days. he's made a quarter century liberty down payment. >> reporter: the judge ultimately agreed to release him on a token $1 bail. >> the court will allow him -- >> please, please, come to order. >> reporter: hincapie and his family were overcome with emotion. he was led away to be processed for release, but that would take nearly six hours. downstairs, his mother maria waited. a quarter century ago, the same spot, in was convicted of murder. now, here she was again.

family and a crush of reporters to witness her son's first steps into freedom. two brothers, separated as teenagers, now reunited as middle-aged men. there were two other men among the crowd who hincapie wanted to find. bill hughes and bob dennison, the self-named "irish guys gumshoe squad" who launched his journey to freedom. >> i owe tremendous, tremendous love, energy, gratefulness to these two individuals. >> welcome home, johnny. >> cheers, cheers. >> i'm so happy you're home.

good. >> reporter: his first meal? stuffed filet of sole. his 20-year-old niece -- >> this is your first selfie. it's a thing now. >> reporter: -- who was born when he was already in prison, introduced johnny to his first selfie. how are you doing? >> overwhelmed. >> reporter: we stepped outside to talk about what his first hours of freedom were like. >> i've been thinking about how beautiful it is to be free again in new york city. watching the cars go by, the lights in the tree. it's a lot of nostalgia, you know, and i'm grateful for it. >> reporter: so where does the truth live in this story? >> look at the sky up there, johnny. >> i know. >> reporter: for johnny hincapie, it lives in this moment. >> you gotta love it at the end of the day. you know, this is a dream come true. >> reporter: and one thing is for sure -- the city he now rejoins is much

safer, than the one he left behind 25 years ago. in the end, the police commissioner says that has a lot to do with what happened on that subway platform. >> i truly believe that the death of that young man was the propelling catalyst for the new york miracle that we've experienced the last 25 years. and now our second hour of "dateline." this centers on a young woman who vanish vanished and a community who reached out to us to help. >> it was rough. it was a rough time for the whole community. >> reporter: it hit her town like a lighting bolt -- the strange disappearance of carrie olson. >> it was scary. everyone loved carrie. >> it was so painful. >> you reached out to "dateline"? >> i did. yes, we started getting people following our page. >> reporter: where was she? what was behind this? far from home, a lead. >> i saw the tattoo,

and i said, "that's her tattoo, isn't it?" >> reporter: and three caught-on-camera clues! someone's in her car! someone's at her bank! but most jaw-dropping of all? someone's up on stage, with a song turned sinister. >> i couldn't believe what i was hearing and seeing. >> reporter: could karaoke be a key to this case? >> my heart was pounding and pounding. >> i was sweating. i was nervous. >> we needed to figure this out, fast! >> here's andrea canning with: "without a trace." >> reporter: it's a sad fact of american life -- families separated from their loved ones. gone, without a trace. nationwide, there are almost 100,000 active missing person's cases. since january of last year, "dateline's" online "missing in america" series has been telling some of those heartbreaking

stories. one of the first came from the heartland, where not everything is serene and pastoral. this is the quad cities -- urban, industrial, gritty. four cities split by the mighty mississippi river -- two on the iowa side, two in illinois. these days, the quad cities is a sometimes uneasy mix of old-fashioned midwestern values and modern urban life, where crime is an inescapable part of the landscape. this is where carrie olson went missing in december of 2013. >> she had a heart of gold. and she made you always feel welcome. >> reporter: amanda smith and carrie were b.f.f's from the moment they met at as 11 year-olds at a neighborhood pool. >> we were just

day, and sparks just flew. >> how do little girls have sparks? what was it about carrie? >> she was outgoing, fun. she'd push you in the pool. she'd splash you. and she'd give you the best bear hugs. you know, just would send tingles through your body and made you feel so special. >> reporter: the vivacious carrie was a people person and according to sarah paxton, another friend, a dog person too. she loved her kolby. >> her dog, kolby jack. kolby cheese. she loved, loved, loved kolby. kolby was like her child. >> reporter: 29-year-old carrie worked in her father's flooring and carpet store. >> carrie was a bit of >> she was. >> reporter: is that fair? >> yeah.

>> her dad seemed to do a lot of things for her? >> he did. if she needed something, he was there taking care of it. >> reporter: but carrie was trying to find her own way. she lived in her own house and dreamed of, one day, walking down the aisle. >> she wanted to be loved. she wanted a family. she wanted something stable in her life. >> reporter: the outgoing carrie had no trouble meeting guys, but hadn't found mr. right. >> carrie was such a sweetheart. she was always bubbly. >> reporter: kelly hornick is a nurse who moonlights as a bartender at a karaoke joint named jimmy o's. carrie was a regular. >> she was always well behaved. always there just hanging out with her girlfriends, having a good time. i think they came here for karaoke. and that's a fun crowd. >> reporter: it was at jimmy o's where carrie met tim mcvay. from the moment they laid eyes each other, they were

smitten. >> they were flirty with eh othe u coultellhat they were both interested. it's cute. >> reporter: tim studied theology at augustana college. he planned on becoming a minister, but felt he was just too young and inexperienced to live up to the responsibility. so he took a dramatic u-turn and found a very different calling in bars and clubs as the kaoke king of the ad cities. he wavery good running karaoke. he was funny. he entertained the customers. he got out there and danced with 'em. he would sing songs. he's a good guy. >> reporter: tim, a divorced father of two, was ten years older than carrie. but that didn't seem to matter. they were having fun. and carrie could imagine a future together. >> she saw everyone around her getting married and having children, myself included. and i know she wanted that. >> reporter: but tim wasn't interested in having more children and that was a deal breaker for carrie.

their separate ways. carrie soon started dating justin mueller, an iraq war vet, with personality from the gregarious, fun-loving tim. >> he seemed very quiet. pleasant. he was polite. he was nice. he seemed a little awkward. >> reporter: despite his quiet and awkward demeanor, justin looked like a good fit for carrie. he was closer in age, hard working, loyal. and he seemed to find a place in her heart. so, they moved in together. it was a big step. for carrie, it was the first time she had set up house with anyone. but right from the start, it wasn't the happily ever after kind of life carrie dreamed about. the iraq war left justin with a difficult case of post traumatic stress disorder. >> i felt like it wasn't a good match. all he wanted to do was stay home, where carrie was always wanting to go out and do things. >> reporter: did you sort of see

that as, like, "this is gonna be -- i can see this is gonna be a problem?" >> i did. i saw, like, a clash. >> reporter: then, just three weeks after justin moved in, there was a problem and it was a big one. carrie suddenly disappeared. it was a monday, december 13, 2013. the start of a work week. carrie didn't show up at the store and didn't call in. not like her at all. something was wrong? >> right. i called her, i could tell her phone was off. it was going straight to voicemail. and i thought about calling hospitals. i just was scared. >> reporter: not home. not at work. not in touch. where was carrie?lways on my mind. thinking about what to avoid, where to go... and how to deal with my uc. to me, that was normal. until i talked to my doctor. she told me that humira helps people like me get uc under control and keep it under control when certain medications haven't worked well enough. humira can lower your ability to fight infections, including tuberculosis.

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>> reporter: grief can sneak in like a thief and steal your joy. that's what seemed to happen when carrie olson disappeared. grief gripped an entire community and didn't let go. >> everybody knew about it. it was the talk of the town. >> reporter: dennis harker is founder of the quad cities missing person's network. >> whenever there was anything newsworthy, it was posted.

it was in the news. it was on facebook. >> reporter: carrie's best friend amanda was a big part of that. >> on new year's day i did create a find carrie olson facebook page. and people were sharing it left and so her story was getting out. i even contacted dateline and they published her story. >> reporter: when we posted carrie's story as part of dateline's online missing in america series, it reached 1.9 million people, and was shared 42,000 times. did you feel like that could help? just getting it out on a national level? a lot. >> reporter: thousands started to follow amanda's page. the quad cities in a remarkable way. help and everyone was hoping for a break in the case. but they were also on edge. did you just start to thoughts as you

>> i did. >> reporter: what are you told about what's going on with carrie? >> that she did not show up for work. the family was concerned. >> reporter: the family was so concerned they called the police. the case went to detectives rick voy and bill thomas of the davenport police department. they say carrie's live-in boyfriend justin told them he had no idea where she was. >> justin didn't have any answers. >> reporter: justin said he and carrie had a fight, she stormed out of the house and he hadn't seen her in two days. >> carrie was upset. >> what did she say to him? >> said somethin' to him about bein' stupid >> reporter: carrie's ex, tim mcvay, was in las vegas on vacation when he was told she was missing. he and carrie were still close friends and said he wanted to help and had an idea. he talked to carrie's father dave about where to look. >> tim told him, hey,

she could be at my place. go over and look. there's a window open. you can crawl into the window and search the house. >> dave went over there and searched. >> yes. >> he did. >> reporter: did he see anything? >> nope. >> reporter: no carrie at tim's. no carrie anywhere. and one thing left behind at her house was a sure sign something was terribly wrong, her beloved dog kolby. >> her everything was kolby. just like a little kid. and if she did go somewhere kolby was either with her, or she would make arrangements for kolby. there was -- she would never just leave. >> reporter: kolby being at home without carrie led detectives voy and thomas to a grim possibility. >> as detectives, do you have to consider that someone might have taken their own life? >> in a missing person's

investigation, that's always a possibility. >> reporter: amanda gave that theory some weight. she said there was a sadness behind carrie's bubbly personality. >> i started thinking that maybe she committed suicide somewhere. >> did you think that carrie was capable of taking her own life? >> well, she seemed depressed at times. >> reporter: still, detectives needed to they executed two search warrants, the carrie shared with her boyfried justin. >> the search warrant that we prepared for carrie's house included everything that justin owned and justin's vehicle. >> reporter: justin's truck was checked and photographed. and a sweep was made of the house. it was tidy. undisturbed. didn't look like a crime scene. another search was done at ex-boyfriend tim mcvay's house. >> we wanted to get into his residence and see was she there, was she not there. were there any clues that we needed to go on. >> reporter: detective tina noe executed the search on tim's home.

>> we took lots of photographs. 'cause you never know what's gonna be important possibly later on. >> reporter: tim was in the middle of a major renovation. the house was a mess. random things were strewn everywhere; clothes, construction materials, rolls of carpeting. but nothing looked like a good lead. carrie's family was growing increasingly desperate. they wanted to do something. anything. when they reached out to dennis harker of the quad cities missing person's network. sadly, he knew just what to do. >> it's traumatic. i mean, it's just a crisis. and and it's overwhelming. >> reporter: his own son went missing just a few months earlier. >> you find yourself being tireless. you know, you can't sleep anyway, you might as well be doing something. >> reporter: dennis offered suggestions and organization to find carrie and keep her story public. it was a remarkable effort. a reward was offered. a prayer vigil became a moment of peace, and

faith. and, of course, there were endless searches. dennis led one at the mississippi river, where his son's body had been found. >> the mississippi tends to collect a lot of people that go missing. >> reporter: amanda was with dennis for one of his river searches. >> maybe she had drowned or been dumped in the river. so we started looking along the river. and i was lifting up everything and looking for her. >> i had to do something for her. 'cause she woulda done it for me. >> reporter: sarah paxton was searching too. she remembers the frustration of trudging through a huge park covered with a fresh blanket of snow. >> every search, i felt smaller and smaller. and the world felt bigger and bigger. she was one of my closest friends. i loved her dearly. it just felt like a needle in a haystack. >> reporter: coming up -- >> had you ever heard anything about justin stalking carrie? >> he was driving by her house. >> it sounded like maybe she was getting ready to end the relationship with just zblin when "dateline"

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>> reporter: the people of the quad cities were became a mission. >> reporter: finding someone quickly is very important. >> it is very important. and it was bothering me. where is she? what could've happened to her?

we need to find answers. >> in murder investigations, eight out of ten suspects and victim know each other. >> reporter: and that meant taking a harder look at carrie's boyfriend, justin mueller. detectives started by talking to carrie's family about him. >> we rely heavily on the information that families give us early on in an investigation. >> reporter: but carrie didn't share details of her love life with her family. they didn't even know justin had moved in with her. it turns out the person carrie did confide in was her ex-boyfriend, tim mcvay. >> to me, it appeared that they were best buds. they talked daily. sometimes they would talk over 20 times a day via text. >> reporter: tim drove straight to police headquarters when he flew back from las vegas, saying he wanted to help. >> i want to talk to you about carrie. >> absolutely. >> you know, that's why you're down here, right? >> anything you want to know. i don't know where she is. i don't know what she's doing.

know because i am concerned. >> reporter: it turned out tim also had a lot of concerns about justin, which he shared with the detectives. he said the problems started even before justin moved in to carrie's house. >> she called me out of the blue one afternoon freaking out because this guy justin that she had been dating was kind of stalking her. >> reporter: it was something best friend amanda also worried about when carrie went missing. >> reporter: who did you think would wanna hurt her? >> i immediately thought justin. >> reporter: had you ever heard anything about justin stalking carrie? >> she had told me that he would drive by her house before he ended up moving in. he wanted to be with her so bad. >> reporter: and then there was justin's posttraumatic stress disorder. carrie had talked to her about it and she could relate. amanda's own military husband also struggled with ptsd. >> reporter: that could be a lot to

used to that and then you start dating a guy with ptsd.? >> it is a lot to handle. >> reporter: tim told police that carrie thought her relationship with justin had reached a tipping point. >> she goes yeah i can't do this anymore. i can't even keep pretending this is going to be okay. >> reporter: tim then speculated to police that the problems in the relationship had escalated into that saturday morning fight. >> her and justin got in a fight. she didn't really want to go back and get into more. she wanted him to learn a lesson. >> reporter: and how did tim know about that fight? carrie had gone to his house after running out on justin in a huff and told him all about it. >> it sounds like she was getting ready to maybe end the relationship with justin. >> reporter: tim went on to tell police that he dropped carrie back home the next morning.

>> reporter: he then borrowed her car and headed to the airport for his trip to las vegas. but when detectives spoke to justin, he said after carrie stormed out, she never came back home, and he hadn't seen her since. and that made a tip called in to police all the more intriguing. >> reporter: you all get a tip that there's a man looking for carrie in the milan area. >> yes. >> reporter: that deserved a close look because two days after she disappeared, her phone which hadn't been connecting to her cell network suddenly started pinging in the nearby town of milan. the man with the tip said the searcher was carrie's boyfriend. >> reporter: did you think it was tim at first? or did you think it was justin? >> justin. >> reporter: but justin had another story to tell. he said he wasn't in milan and insisted the fight with carrie was no big deal. that it was about something trivial. >> over some burnt eggs. >> reporter: and she had left that day, slammed the door and called him stupid?

insisted he never saw carrie again after that fight. and the morning tim said he dropped her at home and watched her go into the house. justin said that never happened. >> when one guy tells us, "i dropped her off here at 6:30 in the morning," and the other guy says, "she never came in the door." we know there's a problem. >> reporter: a boyfriend who had a blowout with carrie, and an ex who gave her a shoulder to cry one. one of them was lying but which one? coming up, a caught on camera stunner. who is that using carrie carrie's bank card? >> he is seen on video trying to get $400 out. >> and a song turns sinister.

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>> reporter: carrie olson's boyfriend and ex-boyfriend had given conflicting stories about the day carrie went missing and now police were taking a close look at both of them. >> that's kind of a

tough thing to have to figure out when you've got two potential suspects. >> one of these two individuals is not telling the truth. >> reporter: detectives were trying to figure out which across a significant clue. a trace on carrie's debit card led them to a gas station, where they looked at security camera video. it was chilling. there was carrie's car. her debit card was being used but there was no carrie. instead, the person using the card was tim mcvay. >> he's seen on video at the pump, trying to enter a number several times, you could tell, it's unsuccessful. >> reporter: tim also tried the card at a drive-thru atm at the mississippi valley credit union. but he had problems. >> that's carrie's bank. he is seen on video there three separate times, trying to get $400 out. >> reporter: the pin is not working? >> the pin is not

working. >> reporter: why was tim driving carrie's car and using her debit card? tim told detective voy there was a simple explanation. even after they broke up, he and carrie always had each other's backs. >> we've been really close friends. she is the kind of friend if she called me i would drop whatever i was doing to go help her out. shirt off my back kind of thing. >> reporter: tim said that's why he had taken care of carrie when she came to his house after storming out on justin. and it also wasn't unusual that she lent him her car and debit card, he said. >> she gave me her debit card she said go to the mississippi atm and get out $400 then go and top off the gas tank, whatever it takes to fill it up. >> reporter: tim said carrie had also promised to drive him to the airport in minnesota that sunday. but then she changed her mind at the last minute. >> she says just take my car and drive yourself up there drop me off at home.

>> according to tim, he and carrie get into the car and he takes carrie back to her residence. >> reporter: and when they pulled up to the house, tim said carrie told him she didn't care how justin might react to her doing him a favor. >> she was saying i am going to walk in the door. and say i let tim borrow my car to get himself up to the airport. you need to shape up, ship out. >> reporter: detective voy questioned tim's version of events, saying security camera video from the genesis health clinic next to carrie's house did not show him dropping her off at home. >> explain to me then the video cameras on the side of the genesis where you dropped her off, it does not show you there. >> it has to show that the car was there. >> reporter: tim didn't realize it but detective voy was testing him. there was actually no video camera at the clinic. tim stuck to his story insisting he dropped off carrie. >> you're not in the video, and justin said, "she never came in that house." he's home. >> i don't know. >> she didn't walk into the garage and

then walk away. >> i'm thinking justin's probably not being very truthful with you. >> reporter: it was clear one of them wasn't telling the truth and it was time to find out which one. >> reporter: did you ask tim to take a poly graph? >> did. >> reporter: did you give justin a polygraph? >> did. >> reporter: but when justin and tim took those lie detector tests, they both passed. and then they both went back to their lives. still, detectives kept an eye on them, hoping one might slip. >> reporter: one night later that winter, tim mcvay, the karaoke king of the quad cities, was back singing in front of a crowd. he sang, "i used to love her," by guns n' roses. i used to love her yeah but i had to kill

her >> reporter: a woman at the bar, who was aware of the case, knew mcvay was a suspect. shocked by his performance, she said she shot this video to document it then gave it to detective noe. >> he says, "i used to love her, but i had to kill her. and i put her six feet under." tim knew what he was doing. and to get up there and sing that song? it was sickening. >> reporter: but that song was played frequently at the bar, and detective noe knew that tim's performance didn't prove anything. so with no physical evidence connecting tim to carrie's disappearance, there was nothing she could do. the investigation had hit a wall. >> it was a mystery. we felt something just wasn't right. something was going on and we needed to figure this out. fast. >> reporter: carrie was still missing winter was settling in and it would be a long one. coming up, this brand new clue. >> i e-mailed amanda. it was a definite match. for a major break in the case.

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>> reporter: april 5th, 2014. warm weather, finally, after a merciless midwestern winter. melting snow led to a terrible discovery. >> a body had been found in minnesota that was similar to carrie's description. >> reporter: it was found unclothed, in a wooded area off a country road in the town of hastings, 300 miles from where carrie olson went missing. police circulated a possible identifying image, the dead woman's tattoo. >> i e-mailed amanda, and i said, "i hate to say it, but that's her

>> i had one picture of her tattoo. and i sat and compared it to the drawing on that news report. >> reporter: what is that moment like, when you look at the photograph of your friend and the photograph of the tattoo in the news report? >> i was completely empty. i called my mom and dad and i said, "there's a definite match for carrie in hastings, minnesota." >> this is where carrie olson's body was found on saturday night. >> we had mixed emotions, obviously. we wanted to find her but then finding out, you know, what had happened -- it was rough. it was a rough time for the whole community. >> i just sat there. i cried. i lost a confidante. i lost someone i could

i lost -- i lost a very good friend. >> reporter: the funeral was at st. paul's church in davenport. >> she got to come back home again. >> reporter: it was a day to lay carrie to rest and remember a beautiful life. but there were still so many unanswered questions. >> now we need to find out why. we need to find out what happened. >> reporter: first step, an autopsy. but it couldn't answer the key question for detectives. >> the doctor that did the autopsy called it homicide by unspecified means. >> reporter: no cause of death? >> no cause of death. >> reporter: are you thinking, "come on. there's gotta be a cause of death"? >> it's rare. but we had seen the photos of the scene, and you can tell that she didn't walk up there and just fall over dead, that her body was placed there. >> reporter: but the autopsy did offer a possible clue. >> the doctor had found a chunk of

january's search warrant that tim had beige carpet rolls in his house. >> reporter: but they also knew that carrie worked in a store that sold carpeting, so it might not mean anything. still, the carpet in carrie's hair and the carpet in tim mcvay's house were sent to the lab for analysis. how long did it take you to get your answer? >> it takes a while. it doesn't come back after the commercial break like on tv. >> reporter: while detectives waited for results, they explored the most tantalizing clue they had received, and it didn't come from carrie's body. it came from where she was found -- hastings, minnesota. >> we knew that's where tim parked his car before he went to the airport. >> reporter: when tim mcvay flew from minneapolis to las vegas the same weekend carrie disappeared, it turns out he left carrie's car in hastings. why? that's where his girlfriend at the time lived.

pretty big coincidence. >> yeah. that's what we call a clue. >> reporter: but detectives needed more. they had to tie mcvay to the very spot where carrie's body was found. they did have one long-shot clue. carrie's body, investigators discovered this $4 price tag. a google search showed the tag was for a kids' shovel sold at the discount chain big lots. detective thomas found a big lots store in lacrosse, wisconsin, where that kind of shovel was bought on the same day mcvay drove to minnesota. lacrosse is about two-thirds of the way between the quad cities and hastings. but the store's security cameras were broken -- no video. so how could detectives tie mcvay to this purchase? they decided to work backwards. >> inside a tobacco outlet, he is seen on video. >> reporter: mcvay had told police that before driving to minnesota and the airport that sunday, he stopped to buy a

outlet in the quad cities. so, you knew exactly what time tim had been here -- >> reporter: -- and where he was going? >> correct. >> reporter: the big lots in lacrosse is a three and a half hour drive up highway outlet. and it turns out, the shovel was purchased exactly three and a half hours after mcvay bought that cigar. >> that was huge for us. you leave the tobacco outlet, which is the exact amount of time wisconsin. >> reporter: but detectives still needed something more concrete to connect mcvay to the purchase of the shovel. >> so then we asked for the actual sales receipt. >> reporter: on the receipt was not only the shovel but a black bag. >> a black bag. >> reporter: a desage brand travel bag. it cost only $10, but it was the big payoff police had been looking for. >> we found it in the garage at tim's parents' house. that was a huge piece to our puzzle. >> reporter: so on july 18th, 2014, three and a half months

after carrie's body was found and 7 months after she went missing, tina noe and the other two detectives went to a construction site where mcvay was working. >> tim was up on a ladder. and i said, "we have a warrant for first-degree murder for you and concealing a homicide." >> reporter: tina also brought along her signature accessory -- pink handcuffs. >> reporter: you chose to cuff him with your hot pink cuffs? >> yes. >> reporter: how did it feel seeing him in pink handcuffs? >> good. >> reporter: was it an extra little jab? >> yes. yeah, for tina. >> that was a good moment for us. >> mcvay, come on up. >> reporter: tim mcvay pleaded not guilty. he was denied bail and put in the county jail. that's where "dateline" found him for his first television interview. >> i did not kill carrie.

and i did not dump her body. >> reporter: tim said the wrong guy was behind bars, pointing to the fight carrie told him that she and justin had that saturday morning. >> reporter: did she say what the fight was over? >> romantic issues. i guess that'd be the best way to put it. >> reporter: of a sexual nature? >> that was my impression, yes. >> reporter: and then what happened after that? >> there was some throwing. a couple of things had gotten broken. there was a little bit of a physical altercation between the two of 'em. >> reporter: tim said the last time he saw carrie was when he drove her back to her house, just before he went to the airport. >> she was walking into the garage at her house -- alive, happy, as well as could be. >> reporter: tim said he still loved carrie, even though they'd broken up. but how could he explain the seemingly damning lyric -- "i used to love her but i had to kill her" -- that he sang at the karaoke bar while she was still missing? maybe not the best choice of song given -- >> oh, i agree with

that. actually, i -- >> reporter: -- what was going on -- >> i told my brother-in-law -- he was with me that night. i said, "why didn't you slap me when i put that song in? that's kind of a bonehead move." just -- but it had nothin' to do with carrie. it was nothin' to do with anythin'. it was a song. >> reporter: but to prosecutors, it was more than a song. it was a look inside the mind of a killer. and they were determined to prove that in court. tim mcvay was about to stand trial for murder.pick-up? right this way. i ordered this online. yeah, let me have a look. thanks hey guys! he-ey robbie! nice, right? buy now, online and through our mobile app and pick up in store. happy birthday, honey. because every day is an opportunity

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>> reporter:

tim mcvay's murder trial started in june of this year. there was no jury. judge michael meersman would decide. mcvay's defense attorneys believed they held the winning hand. >> he had passed the polygraph. so we thought this could be the truly innocent accused here. >> reporter: prosecutor john mcgehee knew he was facing a tough test. >> you had no cause of death. you had no weapon. forensic evidence. >> i did feel that it could be an uphill battle. it was gonna be a real challenge. >> reporter: as the trial began, mcgehee presented the prosecution's theory as to how tim did it. even though there was no official explanation for how carrie died, the state presented something called burking -- a method of suffocation designed to leave no marks by sitting on

someone's chest and covering their nose and mouth. to support that scenario, the state called one of mcvay's ex-girlfriends, cati smiddy. >> are you a little bit nervous today? >> yes, i am. >> why are you nervous? >> i'm scared of him. >> reporter: cati described an incident one night in 2013. she said she was startled awake by mcvay sitting on her chest. >> i couldn't breathe, he had cut off my air, i couldn't -- he was, he's a big man and i'm not a very large woman i couldn't, i couldn't inhale. >> you moved out after that? >> yes. >> reporter: the evidence in prosecutor mcgehee's case was largely circumstantial, but he still felt it was strong. he believed mcvay was the last one to talk to carrie. he had her car, used her debit card, and her body was found just minutes from where he parked her car at his girlfriend's house. and the prosecution

had the test results for the carpet fibers found in carrie's hair. they matched that rolled-up carpet in mcvay's house. >> how does a piece of carpet get lodged in someone's hair and remain in her hair? her head must've been on tim mcvay's floor at the time of her death. >> reporter: the prosecutors also used mcvay's internet searches to show how he was constantly checking the website of the newspaper in the distant town where carrie's body was found. >> he knew that he had concealed her body in hastings. so he started accessing the hastings "star-gazette" in january, wanting to know the headlines when her body would be discovered. he accessed that website 100 times. that is an action of a guilty man. >> what were you looking for? you don't live in hastings. it's kind of a long ways away. >> a newspaper's a newspaper.

but i'm not gonna answer any questions about that. >> reporter: and why not? >> all i can say is a newspaper's a newspaper. i don't have any other comments about that. >> just interested in hastings? >> move on to your next question. >> reporter: finally, prosecutors called to the stand carrie's boyfriend -- justin mueller. he testified about the last time he saw carrie. >> did you say good-bye? >> i didn't really have a chance to say good-bye. the way she left. i tried to say good-bye, yes. >> reporter: justin acknowledged that she was upset with him. >> the way she stormed out of the door, and i thought maybe i upset her in maybe some minor way or, cause i wasn't paying somehow. >> reporter: as the unexplained absence and silence grew, so did justin's concern and his texts. prosecutors had him >> "baby, come home. "i'm sorry for whatever i did.

i love you. kolby and i miss you." "is everything okay? i gave kolby his pill." >> did you get a response? >> no. >> now it's sunday night at 8:10. were you starting to get worried then? >> yes. >> reporter: although there was no evidence presented about mcvay's motive for murder, in closing arguments the prosecutors offered their theory -- he killed carrie in a twisted fit of rage, because he demanded her car to get to the airport and she'd said no. >> we see it all the time that people are murdered for sometimes the smallest little things. and you're just surprised that another human being can do this to another human being. but that's what happened. >> reporter: mcvay's attorneys -- aaron dyer, dan dalton and john ruud -- argued that the prosecution's theory of motive was preposterous. >> the idea that he could kill her and take her car to just get a ride to minnesota, i think is laughable. >> they didn't have a cause of death, so how do you point the

>> reporter: the defense didn't produce any witnesses of their own. instead, they aggressively challenged the state's witnesses, like that former girlfriend. show mcvay was more playful than violent. >> you said when i finally did get him off me, he said he was just playing around, but you didn't find it funny? >> yes. >> he wasn't striking you, right? >> no, he wasn't striking me, he's never struck me. >> reporter: defense attacked detective bill thomas, who traced that kid's shovel to a big lots >> you have no videos of that transaction, right? >> no. >> you have no receipts with tim's that date, right? >> no, it's paid by cash. >> reporter: the defense confronted justin mueller. police had said he was spotted in the town where carrie's phone wouldn't admit it. >> you remember being in the milan area at >> no. >> his phone records put his phone, at the very least, in milan. another person indicated to the

>> reporter: what do you make of that? >> i think it's a huge hole in the prosecution's case. >> reporter: the defense also challenged the state's evidence -- like the carpet fibers found in carrie's hair that investigators said matched the carpeting in mcvay's house. >> she worked in a carpet store. so just because it happened to be in her hair certainly doesn't indicate anyone intentionally killed anybody. >> reporter: they even challenged the idea that a crime had been committed at all. >> how did she get there? we don't know. how did she die? we don't know. it's one of the biggest mysteries that not even sherlock holmes, i don't think, could solve. >> reporter: tim mcvay declined to take the stand in his own defense, but he maintains that he's a family man who loves his kids, not the violent thug described in court. >> i'm just not that kinda person. >> i couldn't inhale. >> you were accused by cati smiddy though of -- >> well, that was a lie.

getting violent. >> that was a lie. >> reporter: did you kill carrie? >> i did not. >> reporter: there's a lot of coincidences -- >> there are. >> reporter: -- going on. terrible -- >> there are. >> reporter: -- coincidences for you. >> i agree, yeah. >> reporter: what do you say to those people watching who just maybe don't believe you right now? >> all i can say is what i know. i know that i did not kill carrie. she was a beautiful person, a wonderful friend, a lover, a confidante. she was -- she meant the world to me. >> it's been the end of a long trial. >> reporter: after more than two weeks of testimony and argument, judge meersman was ready to give his verdict. >> timothy mcvay, i'm finding you guilty of count one murder, count two concealment of a homicidal death. >> i jumped out of my seat. i was so excited and happy. >> reporter: tim mcvay was stoic, showing no

emotion. and three months later, he was just as stoic when the judge sentenced him to 45 years in prison. >> i believe you killed her. and the saddest part is, you killed her for a car and some money. >> reporter: for justin mueller, the cloud of suspicion finally lifted. for carrie's family and friends, the verdict meant justice and bittersweet relief. >> i just bowed my head and started crying. and it felt just like this huge weight was gone. >> reporter: but justice for carrie still couldn't explain the why. >> if it was over a ride to minnesota, a car, and money, it's not a very good why. >> reporter: what will you miss most about carrie? >> what i ultimately miss is she's not there, pulling in that driveway, honking, you know, announcing that she's here. she had a heart of gold. she was there for everybody. >> she had a lot of hope for her future. she had everything to live for. >> that's all for this

edition of "dateline." we'll see you tomorrow at 8:00/7:00 central for the return of the "dateline" saturday night mystery. and then again next friday at our new time 10:00/9:00 central. and of course, i'll see you each weeknight for ""nbc nightly news"." i'm lester holt. for all of us at nbc news, goodnight.we told you a year ago... about a basketball scam here in des moines involving glendon alexander. now it looks like he's playing others... this time in las vegas. aaron brilbeck will tell you about the latest allegations. most people get awards for go sportsmanship. a cross country runner in southern iowa got disqualified. we'll tell you why... and there's a new component to a knoxville memorial honoring fallen soldiers. the cross that caused a big controversy has been replaced... by something that wouldn't have been possible without the threat of a lawsuit. he went from being a big star to